I love stories...and each house has one.
I was just thinking today about all of the houses I lived in during college. I practically lived in one house my entire childhood and adolescent life with my parents and then BOOM college hits and I move all over the place. Marrying Isaac has been an adventure.
The story on Carlton Arms: Isaac moved into Carlton Arms Apartments after his sophomore year. It was a very small apartment (one-bedroom, one-bath and there was no dining room). It might as well have been a studio apartment. There was no washer or dryer as he had to do his laundry at a community facility (on-site) where the pool was. The pool was really nice. No one was ever there and it was so clean. We'd often invite our friends over to chill because there was no lifeguard to monitor what was going on. That apartment was on the nicer side of Lakeland, in my opinion, which took about 20 minutes to get to from school. I was so excited when he moved into that apartment his sophomore (my freshman) year because it was right after summer ended before I was starting my own sophomore year and I felt like we were becoming real adults.
The story on Peavy: After we got married when my sophomore year had ended we moved into our first place together on Peavy Ct. We refer to it now as "Peavy." It was actually a duplex: a two-bedroom, two-bath joint. It was pretty huge compared to what we were used to, but it was on the crappy side of Lakeland, in my opinion. It was, however, really close to campus (about five minutes), which was so convenient. We loved that place and Isaac found it. He had (and still has) a nact for finding great deals. Isaac saw the place before we moved in (I didn't) and he said the carpet was atrocious. So, he got the landlord to replace it (he's also good at finagling). He also talked him into buying new paint for the entire house. We had to paint it, but what do you want for $423 a month?!
The duplex had a 70s look to it. The kitchen had a yellow theme to it with some brown in the flooring. The appliances were yellow as well and the cabinetry was dark brown. The fixtures were old and a bit scrappy, too, but it was a huge palace compared to my dorm room!
Anyway, we had a lot of great memories there, as our first venture in a new place as husband and wife. We also had a lot of weird and creepy things happen to us in that place. We had cockroaches galore. Every time I got home from class, or work, there would be dead roaches on my kitchen floor. I think they had died from all the bug spray and repellent that was implanted in the ground by our landlord. We had to beg him, at times, to do something about it. We also had lots of frogs, a dead cat in our laundry room, and even a snake that came to visit. The frogs would often succulate themselves to our kitchen windows, or make their way to our cars to scare us when we went out to run an errand. And the cat, well the cat was an interesting story. We found him dead upon arrival to Peavy one day when we came back from vacation. He smelled...bad. The snake was an interesting story as well. We found him under our carport. He was a few feet long and became liver when our neighbor brought out the saw and chopped him up while the neighbor's wife and I watched. It was gross. And that's what we'll always remember about Peavy...the place that brought us creatures of all kind.
My sisters loved that place, too. They visited us a few times while we lived there and grew fond of it. "Peeeaaavvvvyyyy," they always say. "Awwwww I miss Peavy." I don't know why they liked it so much. I guess it's because we always make good memories with each other no matter where we are. Gosh, we had our first Thanksgiving there and first Christmas there too. It was a great place despite the bugs. It was ours. And it was cheap!
The story on Hollingsworth: "Lake Hollingsworth", or "Hollingsworth," as we like to call it, was where we moved to next--this was mid-junior year, I think. We couldn't take the crawlies anymore so we had to move someplace more reputable. It was only a one-bedroom, one-bath, but it was pretty big and just as close to campus (on a nice side of Lakeland). The one thing I'll always remember is that the bathroom had carpet, which made it so cozy. It definitely had it's share of creepy crawlies, too, but not as many and not as often. We had a bat, once, that snuck it's way in the house while I was home alone. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it flying around the living room. I locked myself in the bedroom and waited for Isaac to come home. It was disgusting!
But in general, it was a cute, homey, and cozy place. Lake Hollingsworth was right across the street (hence the name). It was a lake that looped 3 miles around and it was perfect for running. I ran it almost every day. And on really hot days (which was almost every day) after I had worked up a good sweat, I would jump in the pool behind our apartment after my run. The lake and the pool were the highlights of this apartment. I loved, loved, loved the lake. Isaac's dad and I would spend evenings jogging it together (or afternoons or mornings depending on our schedules) and often the three of us would go there just to talk or walk or take pictures. It was the highlight of our busy and stressful days. Hollingsworth was a major central spot for Lakeland. A lot of Southeasterners spent their exercise time there. People also boated and jet skiied and fished there. Florida Southern was a College right on the Lake that was right near our apartment and they often had classes on the water as well. I miss the lake so much...this may be inspiring me to write a book!
The story on Buttercup: During the beginning of our Senior Year we moved out of Hollingsworth and moved into dad's house. Or, "Buttercup" or the "Ranch" as we called it. Dad (Isaac's dad) moved to Lakeland when Isaac had moved into Carlton Arms and even lived with him there for a while. Then, he bought the Buttercup house, which was on a lake as well, but was literally right behind the school -- I mean, you could see the school from his backyard. His plan was to live there and go to school. And he did. And now he is an Alumni workign on his Master's Degree.
We decided that it would be great to save money, what little we had, and move in with him. It was his idea, actually. And it's not that we were tired of Hollingsworth, we loved it! But we were winding down our tenure and needed to save money for the move home while we focused on school and while Isaac was interning. So, we packed our things and moved again.
This year, my senior, was the by far the best year of college for me. I loved living on Buttercup with dad. It was no pressure, no worries, just fun, food, family and friends 24/7. We spent a lot of time on the "ranch." It was so quiet there, too. Dad just let us come and go as we pleased and use whatever we wanted. He loved it when we had friends over and made his home a haven of shelter for our friends during the hurricane season. He always kept the radio on, too, all day long. We left for school in the morning, it was on. We came home for lunch, it was on. We came home to get ready for work, it was on. It cracked me up.
The serene moments set the scene for deep conversations and peaceful studying hours. And when he built the sunroom off the back of the house overlooking the lake, it made the house all the more warm and calm. I remember dad and I used to sit outside and feed the ducks with old moldy bread and listen to the birds chirp. The ducks would waddle right up to the house. He spoiled them!
Gosh that was a great house. It brought so many great memories that are like a sweet melody to my soul: The firelit cool nights while studying or watching our favorite shows; the way dad made banana and mayonnaise sandwiches, which grossed me out every time; the endless pots of coffee; the wrestling matches between dad and Isaac; the prayer time; the trying to beat the boys to the bathroom (Rick, another of dad's friends, roomed there too); the nightly ritual of hot chocolate steams; the great stash of fruit; the late-night dinner meet-ups at Bennigans and "Tuesdy Ruby's" as dad used to call it with a coffee order at 9pm; the Saturday cleanings; and staying up late to finish papers with each other. We had SUCH good times that I will never forget.
When we moved home in the summer of 2005, we lived in an apartment in downtown Manassas and made some good memories there too. It was real close to all the restaurants and shops, which we often took advantage of, and a few blocks away from mom and pop. Now, we live in Manassas Park in a condominium that we bought 3 1/2 years ago. It's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, which we bought new. Having a mortgage is never easy...especially one that will be sticking with you for 90 more years (bought at the peak of the market...&^$#%&*((!!). But I can't say I'm totally unhappy with the decision. It is such a cozy place and the specific area in "MP" (Manassas Park) where we live is peaceful. It's on the newer, nicer part of the city and it suits us well. It's convenient, close to everything, and I'll just face it...our unit is fairly large compared to most condos I'd say. And as with any place we've had our fair share of memories here. One of of important note: purchasing Sandy (our cat). "Sand" is the visible soul of our home: and to it we love, we cherish, we dwell.
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